Disgraced Japanese composer merely tells a ghostwriter his "image" of the music

Mamoru Samuragochi, a famous Japanese classical composer who has been called "Japan's Beethoven" and who claims to be deaf, poses with a CD of Symphony No. 1 "Hiroshima" in this Kyodo file photo taken in 2011. The revelation that works thought to have been composed by a self-described deaf composer were actually written by someone else continues to reverberate in classical music circles. -- FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

Takashi Niigaki, a part-time university professor, attends a news conference in Tokyo in this photo taken by Kyodo, Feb 6, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Mamoru Samuragochi, a famous Japanese classical composer who has been called "Japan's Beethoven" and who claims to be deaf, poses with a CD of Symphony No. 1 "Hiroshima" in this Kyodo file photo taken in 2011. The revelation that works thought to have been composed by a self-described deaf composer were actually written by someone else continues to reverberate in classical music circles. -- FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

Takashi Niigaki, a part-time university professor, attends a news conference in Tokyo in this photo taken by Kyodo, Feb 6, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

TOKYO (YOMIRUI SHIMBUN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, AFP)- The revelation that works thought to have been composed by a self-described deaf composer were actually written by someone else continues to reverberate in classical music circles.

The turmoil involving Mamoru Samuragochi has forced concerts featuring his works to be cancelled and prompted a publishing house to halt sales of his autobiography.

A staff member of Tokyo Hustle Copy, a music publisher, received an e-mail from Samuragochi on Sunday, saying Sonatina For Violin, the score which was to be published on Tuesday, was not his own work. The employee replied, saying, "The score can be published if even part of its melody was your own composition." However, Samuragochi said: "(What I did for the music is mainly) tell a ghostwriter my image of the music." The music company then decided not to publish four pieces of his work or license the scores.

Junji Ohono, a managing director of the Tokyo Symphony of Orchestra, which has performed the piece since 2010, said: "Composers usually attend rehearsals, but he never did. I'm shocked, because the response was good whenever we played the piece."